10,901 research outputs found
The impact of EC-92 on developing countries'trade : a dissenting view
No full textMost benefits of the European Community (EC-92) program will probably not come from marginal changes in trade flows. Those changes are important to European policymakers, but are of remote interest to developing countries. The main threats to developing countries are the diversion of investment funds to EC countries and continued external barriers, especially nontariff barriers. The EC expects higher growth and lower prices as a result of EC-92. The net effect on developing countries of the removal of internal trade barriers depends on the country's income and price elasticities with the EC. Current estimates suggest the effect will be small. If new external barriers emerge, or if EC-wide barriers replace national barriers, EC firms may collaborate more with large US or Japanese firms. None of these developments will improve developing countries'trade in manufactures and services. Investment in EC countries may increase to meet the extra demand, growth, or trade diversion resulting from EC-92. This could lead to increased investments in developing countries but given heavy indebtedness in developing countries, is more likely to divert investment funds, thus limiting their future production and growth. Technical standards in EC-92 may also be tougher than national standards in member countries, which could hurt developing country exporters. Is"Fortress Europe"likely? The EC Commission says no, but the Community's record is not good.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Regional Integration,Trade Policy
EC Bananarama 1992 : the sequel - the EC Commission proposal
No full textSome European Community (EC) countries give preferred market access and high prices to bananas from selected developing countries or EC regional suppliers. This preferential status is regarded as a form of aid to these countries, most of which are developing small island economies. EC marketers of bananas from these preferred suppliers also benefit because of the high retail prices. Nonpreferred suppliers - mainly developing countries of Latin America - are hurt by the policies because access is denied or restricted and the lower demand depresses the world price for bananas. The Community's commitment to establish a single unified EC banana market on December 31, 1992 provides a timely opportunity to reform existing distortionary trade policies. The recently announced proposal of the Commission of ECs to regulate banana trade within a unified market relies on quotas to control imports. The proposal is extremely complicated. It is designed to severely restrict competition and to maintain the advantages of selected groups. The authors update their earlier analysis of world banana trade to reflect the market in 1993. They evaluate the implications of the Commission's proposal alongside existing and alternative policies. They find that current policies cost EC consumers about 0.3 billion a year to preferred suppliers. So, it costs EC consumers about 1.00 of aid toselect developing countries or regions. Additionally, every dollar of aid reaching preferred suppliers costs other developing country suppliers 5.30 cost to EC consumers, over 1.00 is lost in outright waste. Several plausible versions of the Commission's proposal are modelled. At best they are found to be slightly less costly than existing policies and at worst, considerably more costly. A 3.5 percent reduction in the quota allocation is estimated to lead to a 30 percent increase in the cost of the proposal. The authors conclude that the Commission's proposal for a unified EC banana policy appears to be little more than a way of replacing existing distortionary national policies with an almost equally distortionary single policy and market. The only difference: the costs would be borne by consumers in all EC countries rather than consumers in only some countries. Worse still, costs could increase. Markets that now gain the benefits of mostly open and competitive marketing such as Germany would face closed and uncompetitive conditions. For developing countries exporting bananas, the proposal offers little. At best conditions may be no worse than they are now. At worst the policy could hurt Latin American suppliers even more than current policies and introduce considerable confusion about the level of support to preferred suppliers. Under the proposed quota system aid will not be well targeted. A more efficient way of achieving the EC's aid commitment is through a small tariff of about 17 percent, used to fund a system of well-targeted deficiency payments or direct aid. The only reason for choosing the Commission's proposal over simpler, tariff-based options seems to be to maintain the vested interests of protected EC markteters. But this is contrary to the objectives of unification, which are to seek gains from increased competition and trade.Environmental Economics&Policies,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Consumption
Politically Acceptable Trade Compromises Between The EC and The US: A Game Theory Approach
No full textA model is developed to quantify the special status of agriculture in the US and the EC trade negotiations. The role of special interests are measured by a policy goals function (PGF) whose weights are estimated for each special interest group. The analysis searches for mutually acceptable, mutually advantageous trade agreements between the US and the EC using a partial equilibrium world trade model coupled with game theory. Results suggest that it is in the best interest of the US (resp. EC) 'for the EC (resp. US) to liberalize whi1e the other follows the status quo policies of 1986. Mutual gains in PGF values to both countries pursuing "large" liberalizations are unlikely to exist, although "small" liberalizations may give rise to "small" mutual gains. Altering each country's action space, and permitting compensatory payments to the most influencial groups yields trade liberalization, but free trade does not result.game theory, trade liberalization, trade negotiations, International Relations/Trade,
The Singer or the Song? Developments in Performers' Rights from the Perspective of a Cultural Economist
No full textOver the last century, performers gradually acquired statutory protection of their economic and moral
rights. These rights are not copyright in the legal sense but neighboring rights and until recently, they
were mainly remuneration rights that are collectively administered. With the WPPT (WIPO
Performers and Phonograms Treaty), performers now have individual exclusive rights for digital
performances; this leads to the question: what has motivated this change – is it a change in the
perception of the value of performer or a change brought about by the changing technology of copying or,
indeed, a change that reflects different economic costs and benefits? The paper discusses the role of
copyright law as an incentive to performers and asks if the economic role of the performer is so different
from that of the author. The conclusion is that a complex interaction of the legal regulations, economic
conditions and institutional arrangements for administering these new rights will determine the outcome
PaREGEn; Particle Reduced, Efficient Gasoline Engines - ERTRAC ECGVI EC #H2020RTR18
No full textThe PaREGEn project (supported by EC Grant No. 723954) is addressing the research and innovation topic GV-02-2016, “Technologies for low emission light duty powertrains”, under the Horizon 2020 framework programme. This project works on the short-term aspects of that call, through the further development of gasoline engines used in mid to premium sized passenger cars. The project is being realized by an eighteen-partner consortium representing all parts of the European Automotive Industry. At the point of the ERTRAC-EGVIA-2018, the project has concluded two years: results are presented.</p
The establishment of foreign companies in Greece with particular reference to the compliance by Greece with EC law
No full textThis thesis deals with the conditions for the recognition and establishment of branches, agencies, off-shore units and subsidiaries of foreign public companies limited by shares in Greece. The relevant Greek laws are analysed in the first chapter, whereas chapter two deals with the comparative analysis of the Greek regime with the relevant provisions of EC law. In the third chapter (which is of particular interest due to the lack of relevant bibliography) reference is made to special Greek laws, that impose limitations on the activities of foreign companies in Greece, thus hindering their free establishment. Chapter four is devoted to the presentation of Greek law on the establishment of foreign maritime companies and the comparative analysis of the Greek regime with the regulations of the Treaty of Rome on this sphere. This analysis was considered necessary due to the vital importance of maritime companies and trade for the Greek economy and the particularly restrictive Greek regime on the establishment of foreign companies. Having concluded that Greek law violates the relevant EC regulations, an attempt is made to provide answers to the following questions: why did the EC fail to enforce its regulations in Greece and what is the protection offered to foreign companies that are prohibited from establishing there. The results of the thesis justify this research. Greece does not comply with EC law on the establishment of foreign companies. Furthermore, the enforcement of EC law in Greece seems impossible both on a Community and a national level. I only hope that the publication of more relevant analyses on the laws of member states will persuade the respective EC and national authorities that the passing of EC legislation does not suffice for the unification of Europe and the successful realization of the European ideal
Edwards Curves and Their Applications
No full textScalar multiplication on elliptic curves is the main operation of many cryptographic protocols such as ECDSA, EC El Camal, ECDH, etc. The Edwards curves is a newer type of elliptic curves that have cryptographic applications. These curves have some computational advantages compared to other curves. In this talk we explore the properties of the Edwards curves and address the issue of performing the group operation in such curves. We will also discuss how these curves could improve the computation time and lessen power usage without impacting the security of the cryptosystem
The etiology of esophageal cancer in high- and low- risk areas of Jiangsu province, China
No full text [Background]Esophageal cancer (EC) remains one of the most common and fatal malignancies worldwide. The geographic variation in EC occurrence is striking, and China is an area with one of the highest incidences of EC. A number of epidemiological studies have been conducted toward EC in the past decades, results suggested that tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, unhealthy dietary factors and chronic injuries of the esophageal mucosa are important in the development of this disease. Genetic polymorphisms in enzymes involved in metabolism of carcinogens may also influence individual susceptibility. However, the effects of major lifestyle and hereditary risk factors on the development of EC remain poorly understood in China. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the etiological heterogeneity between similar areas with great risk gradient. [Methods]From 2003 to 2007, a large population-based case-control study of EC has been conducted in a selected high-risk area and a selected low-risk area of Jiangsu Province, one of the highest cancer incidence areas in China. In total, 1,520 cases and 3,879 controls were recruited. In this thesis, we evaluated the role of major lifestyle factors such as tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and dietary factors, as well as inherited determinants including family history of cancer and genetic polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing related genes on the risk of EC. In addition, we investigated how much of the risk gradient between two areas could be explained by variation in the distributions of major risk factors. [Results] Tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking moderately increased the risk of EC, while the positive associations were only found among men but not among women. Dietary factors were observed to play important roles in the development of EC. Specific dietary habits i.e., fast eating speed, and hot eating and/or drinking substantially elevated EC risk and could explain more than 20% of EC cases each. High intake of salty foods and fried foods, low consumption of raw garlic were also observed to increase the risk of EC. In addition to environmental and lifestyle factors, we confirmed that a positive family history can significantly increase EC risk, and found the inheritance may modify the effect of some unhealthy lifestyles. Moreover, we further explored the relationship between EC and single nucleotide polymorphismsof ADH1B, ADH1C and ALDH2 genes. Results showed that the slow metabolizing ADH1B G allele, ADH1C G allele and ALDH2 A allele significantly increased EC risk among moderate-to-heavy alcohol drinkers, and a significant interaction was observed between ALDH2 gene and alcohol consumption. Lastly, we found that more than 60% of EC cases could be attributable to major lifestyle risk factors in the study population; furthermore, dissimilar distribution of several lifestyle factors, together with variations of hereditary factors may be largely responsible for the incidence difference between two study areas. [Conclusion]The findings in this thesis confirm that unhealthy lifestyles including smoking, alcohol drinking and some dietary factors are the predominant risk factors of EC in China, and a large proportion of incidence difference between regions at varying risk could be attributed to the different prevalence of lifestyle factors. As most of the identified risk factors are modifiable, these could be translated into risk reduction prevention programs in China, and a substantial proportion of new EC cases are expected to be prevented by eliminating or avoiding these risk factors in the population. </p
Albanian Emigration and the Greek Labour Market
No full textIn this paper, I try to give an outline of the modern history of Albanian migration to Greece, the role of Albanians in the Greek economy, policy measures by the Greekstate and the complex reactions of Greek society. I conclude with a brief synthesis of these different approaches since, in the case of Greece especially, their separation is somewhat artificial
Fulmar Litter EcoQO Monitoring in the Netherlands 1979-2008 in relation to EU Directive 200/59/EC on Port Reception Facilities
No full textOperational and cargo related wastes from ships are an important source of litter in the marine environment in the southern North Sea and cause serious economical and ecological damage. Inadequacies in the ship to shore waste delivery procedures are considered a major factor in illegal discharges. The European Union therefore addressed the problem with the Directive on Port Reception Facilities (Directive 2000/59/EC). Obligatory waste delivery to shore and indirect financing of the costs are key-elements of the Directive to stimulate and enforce proper disposal of shipwaste in harbours. Monitoring the effect of the EU Directive is required. In the Netherlands, the Ministry of VenW commissions regular updates of Dutch data in the Fulmar-Litter monitoring database maintained by IMARES
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